Misery Through Victory
by Ghost Raven
Summary: Figure it out for yourself


Author's Notes: In some places, you'll think, omg, he's such a little sert. Well yes, he is, but he is my character, and if you don't like it...uh, sorry.  
  
Kurt was not based on Savage Fox. It's just a strange co-incidence.  
  
Any Questions, Comments, Suggestions? Email them to GhostRaven67@yahoo.com, or screen name is Raven9022  
  
Misery through Victory  
  
GhostRaven __________________________________________________ Copyright information: The beginning of this story written as a NetRaptor.org fanfiction contest teaser. It is not copyrighted, and may be modified as the author sees fit. Any fanfiction written with this teaser may be freely distributed. The Sonic characters are copyrighted by Sega. Kurt, Havoc, and Blitzkrieg are copyright by me. Savage Fox copyright by SavageFox. Chao-not including Havoc-are copyright NetRaptor. All fancharacters used with permission. __________________________________________________  
  
"My greatest victories are nothing compared to my failures"-Myself "The quickest way to end a war is to lose it."- George Orwell  
  
Chapter 1- Serenity  
  
A ball of fire mushroomed into the sky, and Shadow fled along the steel catwalk leading away from the zeppelin. Each skating stride carried him forward twenty feet, and he was still accelerating, trying to escape the shockwave.  
  
The catwalk sloped toward the loading bay far below. Shadow jumped onto the railing and grinded down it, sparks flying from the soles of his shoes. Behind him, fire and destruction consumed the catwalks, and debris pelted around him with the force of bullets. Shadow didn't care. He had paid back GUN one more time, and that was all that mattered. The catwalk turned left. Shadow jumped off the railing back onto the walkway, sprinted to the corner and leaped off the edge. He sailed across a twenty-foot gap, curled into a ball and smashed through a flimsy partition separating the upward- leading ramp from the downward leading ramp. He fled down the stairs, taking them four at a time as the explosion rocked the steel supports around him. He had not anticipated such a violent explosion, and made a note to himself to check what the zeppelin was filled with before he smashed apart the engines.  
  
Twenty feet from the ground now--he could see it through the steel mesh below his feet. The air was dark with acrid smoke, and he held his breath as he flew down staircase after staircase. He rounded a bend and plunged into a cloud of smoke so thick he was blinded, and he groped forward, trying not to breathe and willing the smoke to clear. If only he had a chaos emerald, he would be miles away by now--the power of Chaos Control knew no bounds.  
  
He struck a wall unexpectedly and turned back, feeling for the next staircase. His foot struck something soft on the floor--a body. Probably a fallen soldier. He jumped over it, only to feel a hand close on his ankle. He stumbled and whirled about, ready to fight, and froze. The smoke was thinner near the floor, and he could see the shape of a young fox, eyes glazed with pain and fear, clinging to him by pure instinct.  
  
Shadow did not stop to think. He grabbed the fox, threw him over one shoulder, and sprinted down the next stairwell, which opened before him. Below was the final door opening on the airport runway, which Shadow kicked open. He sprinted into the sunlight, dodging around the debris that littered the tarmac, and away from the roar and heat of the burning aircraft.  
  
The fox's two tails blew across Shadow's face, and he swatted them away, refusing to think about who it was he was carrying.  
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, not too far from the downed zep, a dark gray, almost black echidna was cleaning his modified M4 assault rifle, when emergency sirens blared through the barracks. He had long dreadlocks, barely regulation length, and had strange blue markings on his chest and forehead. On his chest was a crescent with a small dot underneath it, and on his forehead was what looked to be a slash-mark, right down the middle of his face. He also had a large scar over his left eye. He hastily put his gun back together, slipped his knife in its leg-sheath, and grabbed a couple gun magazines. He hauled through the hallways and down the few flights of stairs. Running outside, he saw a black hedgehog sprinting away from the downed GUN zeppelin. He crouched and fired 3 shots, one round grazing the hedgehog in the knee. He tumbled, sending the fox he was carrying flying. Kurt, the echidna, jogged over to Shadow, who was just now getting up.  
  
Never moving the muzzle of the gun away from the hedgehog, Kurt questioned, in a deep, raspy voice, "Who are you? And what did you do?! " "My name is none of your business, and I blew up the zeppelin, fool." "Why?" Red eyes bore directly into the echidna's purple ones. "Revenge," he replied, scooping up the fox and taking off, not bothering to answer further. Kurt breathes a sigh, and takes off as well as he can, loaded down with his rifle. Once Shadow reaches the forest, Kurt found he had to track Shadow through the woods. "So it begins," he breathed.  
  
***  
  
Alarmingly quick, the trail of blood Kurt was following stopped. Luckily for him, in the hedgehog's haste, he didn't worry about covering his trail. Finding broken twigs and crushed leaves was easy enough to see in the bright sunlight of the early morning. He moved fast, not worrying about making a trail of his own. As Kurt slowly followed Shadow's trail, the hedgehog was racing to the outskirts of Knothole.  
  
Minutes later, he was laying Tails behind a hut, making sure the fox wasn't in too awkward of a position, before he took off again.  
  
He made his way straight to Robotropolis, up to Robotnik's command center. Snively glared at him as he walked into the main building, but Shadow placed his hand on the back of the small human's head, and shoved his nose into the keyboard. "Keep typing," he growled, and continued on. As he walked in, knocking twice first, he greeted the cellulite-enriched Overlander, "It is done." "Shadow, just who I wanted to see. Go down to Sector 7 and check on the construction bay. There are some readings that aren't the way they should be." 'A little out of character,' thought Shadow, as he skated away, 'he must be planning something.'  
  
Chapter 2- My Friend of Misery  
  
Hunting gives one much time to think, Kurt mused. It seemed like it wasn't too long ago, when he was living in an alley, surviving off of café garbage. As he was walking, his short life flashes before him.  
  
His parents were killed in the middle of a gang war when Kurt was 8. He was a block away, waiting for them to get home, when he heard the gunshots. He ran outside to see his parents pulled from their vehicle and shot, execution style, and their car stolen. He was placed in different foster homes until he was 13, when he ran off. He never liked any of his foster parents, who returned the feeling without a problem. That was when he lived in the alleyways.  
  
Two years later, a patrolling policeman, a cougar, found him. The officer took him in, fed him, so on and so forth. For two years, the cop taught him everything he knew. Being a cougar, he knew much about hunting and tracking, as well as some things not covered by basic police training. He knew how to disappear, become a ghost in a crowd.  
  
One time, though, becoming a ghost wasn't enough. The cougar, Jonny was his name, was called in for backup during a bank holdup. The thieves were much more heavily armed than the police, and armored. It was a massacre. He can still remember the rage, the fury building up, first from losing his parents, and then from losing his best friend. He picked up Jonny's gun, the same rifle Kurt still carries, and put to use everything he was taught. He took out the robbers one by one, fueling his hatred. He popped up behind one car, then from behind a wall.  
  
His coloring was a perfect camouflage with the shadows. Kurt was hit 4 times, one grazing an artery, the wound quickly bleeding Kurt to death. Soon the bank was clear. Paramedics found him passed out behind a trashcan with the rifle across his chest. He spent three weeks recovering just from the blood loss. The doctors working on him said it was a miracle Kurt was even alive.  
  
After leaving the hospital, Kurt went on a vigilante-spree. He located and killed every member of the gang that had stolen his parents away from him. After he finished his search for revenge, he was barely satisfied. He became much more mysterious, keeping to himself, trusting no one. Word spread, and GUN wanted him badly. With as much bad publicity as they were getting, they felt someone like this could give them a few victories, and boost the morale of the troops.  
  
During the beginning of boot camp, he kept even more to himself. Near the end, though, he was befriended by a fox, who was much like himself, named Savage. Savage was, and still is, a bounty hunter, two years younger than Kurt. This comrade helped the echidna lighten up some, though he still retained some of his darker qualities.  
  
Not much later, while Chaos was destroying the city, Kurt joined one of the helping relief groups. He joined one that volunteered to help fix up the Chao Co. gardens. Himself, and the entire crew were given chao eggs as a thank you by the owner. Unbeknownst by the owner, the egg that was given to Kurt held a rare chao, one who was colored red before it even evolved. He decided to name the chao Havoc, to fit his master's personality.  
  
Remembering all this brought back memories that Kurt really didn't want to have. As he tracked the hedgehog, he grew bitter and upset, images flowing through his mind. On top of all this, it was getting dark, and he had to return to base camp soon. "Shoot!" he yelled, turning back. Only he didn't say shoot. 'I can't just let this go. I'll come back to it when I get to go on leave. Major better not break his promise,' he thought as he jogged home.  
  
*** He slid through the shadows, barely making a sound. He placed the plastic explosives on one of the small generators, then put a few other types of explosives in each of the corners, hiding them behind machinery, hoping to bring the entire building down. He smiled at his work, hoping he could pull off this con. He slipped between two pipes, placing a small amount of the explosive on a gas pipe. He wanted to be out of here before it blew. He went back over each bomb, messing with a few wires, he fixed the radio receivers until they were set just right.  
  
He went outside, standing where the cameras didn't see. He pulled out a small radio, and said, "Robotnik, I'm just getting to the construction bay. Any changes?" "It's about time you picked up your radio, Shadow. There was someone in the building. GET HIM NOW!!!!" "Roger," he replied, entering the building. After a few minutes, of looking around for an "intruder," he walked out and said, "There's no one in there. Are you sure you saw someone?" "Of course I'm sure!! It must have been that blue pain in my-" "I didn't see him," snarled Shadow, "I'm coming back to base"  
  
As he skated away, he hit the detonator, and then threw it into an abandoned building, hoping none of the cameras caught him on film. The building behind hit lit into a massive fireball, concrete and pipes, machinery and glass all flew through the air. A piece of concrete just missed nailing Shadow in the back of the head. 'Note to self; blow things up farther away from self,' thought the hedgehog with a small grin.  
  
Chapter 3- Welcome to The Jungle  
  
"Kurt Sully Echidna, judging from testaments of fellow officers and your Commanding Officers, you are hereby released and given honorary discharged from Marine Specialty Brigade 129, Special Task Force. And let me add that you have been given honorary discharge only because of how you have served in the past. Collect your things, and you will be escorted off the camp boundaries. Dismissed!" He couldn't believe it. He had just been kicked out of the army, his life, almost, because he hadn't reported to the Major after the Zeppelin was destroyed. Since he failed to do so, the blame was put on him, and because he was the only one in the division capable of doing so, also.  
  
'This is a load of bull-' he thought to himself. Until his chao, Havoc jumped on him. He was forced to drop the box of papers he was carrying, given to him before the hearing, and catch the little squirming bundle. "Hey you," he said as softly as he could to the chao. "Were finally getting' outta here, how'd'ya like that?" He gave a short laugh as the little red chao looked up at him with a smile. He packed his things in a duffel bag, put his M4 in a special case; along with everything he would need for it, and hid it in one corner of the barracks no one ever went in. 'I'll pick it up later,' he thought. He grabbed his bag, Havoc, and walked the little way to the mess, where he picked up some different fruits. "This should last until we can find some more, hey?" Havoc clapped his hands and nodded, then grabbed an apple off the shelf and bit into it. His face came back into view with a big smile and some juice dribbling from his chin.  
  
He walked outside, looking for the solders escorting him. He found them not too far outside, one holding a M60 machine gun, the other holding a silenced MP5. He turned to the first one, with a small grin, commented, "Compensating for something?" He then got the barrel of the gun quickly pointed at his forehead. "Move," the soldier growled. "Alright, alright, a little pushy, are we?" 'Funny, the worst day of my life, and I'm in the happiest mood I've ever been in,' thought the echidna. "Watch it," he said over his shoulder as he got prodded in the back.  
  
As they moved past the gates, the soldier with the MP5 said to Kurt in an Australian accent, "Sorry to see you go, mate. Go on then, if you don't, we'll get fired too, if ya don't." The other again pushed the muzzle of his machine gun into the echidna's back.  
  
He started walking along the dirt road, pausing once to look at his former home. He stooped, and pulled out his standard issue pistol, bucking it around his waist, and put all the fruit except two oranges into the bag.  
  
"Let's be gone, then."  
  
*** With a couple of hours until sunset, they found a small clearing in the woods. "This place looks as good as any. Whaddya think?" he asked the chao, falling asleep by the echidna's feet. He looked down when he didn't hear anything, and saw the little chao curled into a ball, snoring softly. He moved around, trying to find a scent of whomever, or whatever, has marked this area as its own. Finding nothing, he proceeded to make camp. He found a couple sticks in the woods and made a small lean-to for him and Havoc. After that, he dug a small fire pit, which took awhile, because the ground was hard, and he had no shovel. He scavenged around, looking for some dried wood. Along the way, he saw a large, non-sentient deer, drinking from a stream.  
  
He pulled out his pistol, but when he pumped a round into the chamber, the deer got skittish and ran off. "There goes dinner," Kurt sighed. He started walking back to camp, he heard the sounds of a wild boar rummaging around, coming from the direction of the campsite.  
  
Fearing for Havoc's life, he started running towards the sound. As he got near, he saw the boar at the base of a large tree, front paws on the trunk, looking up. He followed the animal's gaze and saw the chao sitting on a branch throwing twigs and whatever else he could reach down at the boar. He pulled out the pistol he was carrying and crept up behind the boar. Kurt's foot hit a twig on the way over, the boar spinning around to face him. Instantly Kurt's knife was in hand. The boar charged, Kurt easily side-steeping the attack, and firing his pistol into the boar's side. The boar turned around, much more agile than the echidna thought at first, then charged again. This time, Kurt dove underneath the oncoming beast, shoving the blade up into the animal's skull. The boar died quickly, landing on top of the echidna. He pushed it off slowly. 'This boar weighs a ton,' Kurt said to himself. At last he got the animal off of him. He looked at the chao up in the tree, calling, "Dinner's here!" He pushed himself up, grunting with the effort.  
  
An hour and a half later found the strange duo eating in front of a fire, making a mess. The rest of the boar was on a spit, slowly roasting in front of them. "This isn't too bad, you think? I don't mind it much, either," he continued after the chao's nod up to him. "It's about time you evolved now, isn't it? You should have done it by now." The chao replied with a pint-sized shrug, returning to its meal. "Maybe it's because you're a special chao," he continued. Kurt took one of the boar's shoulder bones and started working it with a rock. He turned to the chao, "Jonny and me, we always went out camping. That's usually when he taught me things. One of those things, was 'If you kill something, you should always use all of what you take.' Well, there's no way we're going to be able to use all this, so take the rest way outta here and leave it for some predators. Hopefully they won't bother us any then. This, I'm making a knife, so if anything happens to the metal one, we still got this one." He never had any difficulty talking to chao, and could go on for hours, but he wrapped it up soon. After awhile they took the boar off the spit, hung it a few hundred yards from their camp, so they didn't get too many unwanted visitors in the night, and went to sleep.  
  
Chapter 4- Highway to Hell  
  
Not especially far away, a new power was being brought to "life." After eventually realizing what it was that made his MechaBots rebel, Robotnik decided to try his hand at it one final time, Project: Blitzkrieg. If this new program failed, the robot would kill him. There was no other way to look at it. Where he had tried to make his other robots loyal, but gave them the will to choose, this one wouldn't have the choice. Heavily soldered to its motherboard was a small chip that let Robotnik choose how much freewill the robot would have. It would be a long shot, but it would be worth it if it worked.  
  
The meter on the side of the battery charge gauge had reached full, so Robotnik took the two cables to either side of the robot's head, and started it, like jump-starting a car. It's pupils lit up a faint red. It stood and looked around, its programming setting in. As the last settings were put in, it bowed deeply toward its new master, but made not a sound. Robotnik nearly jump in his excitement, when remembered all of his MechaBots were like this when they were first booted up. He nodded to the robot, and then waddled to his command center, dropping into his over- stuffed chair. He typed in a few commands, giving his new bot the least amount of freewill possible.  
  
"Shadow, keep track of the new mecha, see what it does, then report to me. Don't get caught by it, though." "You want me to follow around a robot and not get caught? That's not possible," replied the hedgehog. To tell the truth, he just didn't want to see the abomination. Especially after he failed destroying it already. "Just do it!" yelled the human.  
  
In another part of the country, a small red chao had finally started to evolve, and another power was being born.  
  
Chapter 5-Creeping Death  
  
4 months later  
  
Exactly 276 miles south, it was waiting. It crouched in the shadows, waiting to make its first move. Its coloring was perfect for where it was hiding. It had two machine guns in its arms; capable of throwing out 1500 large caliber rounds a minute, and a rocket launcher in its chest, much like Robo-Knuckles. In fact, it looked much like aforementioned robot, but a dark gray color, and gun barrels instead of spikes. It had only jets in its "dreadlocks," using much of its storage for ammunition. Its eyes had no lights for pupils, giving whoever was looking at them the feeling of not knowing where the robot was looking. At last it received the signal, walking out of the shadows, leaving extra boxes of munitions where no one would see them. It stopped the first vehicle that drove by, a bus, and obliterated in seconds. It continued on in this way, destroying anything in front of it. It went to the docks, the financial district, and the civic center. From there it went northwards, into the suburbs. After a few hours, with occasional returns to the alley from which it started, the city was in ruins, fires reaching up into the sky.  
  
***  
  
"But I'll take my time anywhere  
  
Free to speak my mind anywhere  
  
And I'll redefine anywhere  
  
Anywhere I may roam  
  
Where I lay my head is home"  
  
Always singing had made things seem easier for Kurt, and it seemed Havoc had picked it up. Kurt noticed that the little red chao would always start singing whenever he got tired, and now he was singing his new favorite. The duo was on a hike through the woods, carrying their gear. A non- sentient mountain lion seemed to have claimed the clearing while they were out one time. It was quite a surprise when they came back to see the cat curled up on their bedding. Kurt carried an ivory-colored knife on his hip, now. A last souvenir from their encounter with the boar. They trekked for hours, following a stream partway, and then going more into the forest. Kurt was headed southwards, towards the fallen city, Robotropolis. He heard that there was a band of freedom fighters, and figured he might see what they were about, and lend his services, if need be. They took breaks every now and then, Havoc's stamina growing each time. This last break, Kurt noticed that the chao had stopped singing, and it caught his attention. He looked down and saw Havoc sound asleep. Muttering softly, Kurt scooped up the chao and continued on.  
  
After a few more hours of walking, Havoc was back awake and alert. They hiked for a few minutes, then Kurt noticed they had been following a trail that had overgrown with weeds, and trees had started creeping in on the road.  
  
The pair strolled along the path for a little while. They came around a bend and a wave of nauseating odors assaulted them. The echidna and chao found they were looking at a landfill site, only there were very few fills. They back up around the curve again, so as not to get sick to their stomachs. After a short discussion, they decided to go through the woods, around the trash heaps.  
  
They soon heard an explosion, and the pair ran as well as they could to the source. They found themselves in a clearing, almost running into a hedgehog and a two-tailed fox. Kurt instantly recognized him as the fox that black hedgehog was carrying before. Immediately his guard was up, drawing both knives.  
  
"Where's that black hedgehog?" he growled, rage building inside of him. "Whoa, hey, cool it." Said the blue hedgehog, jumping between the two, "What black hedgehog?" "There was a black hedgehog, with red markings and eyes, who blew up a GUN zeppelin. He was running away, holding your friend here. I was tracking them, but had to return. Now where is he?" Kurt demanded. "I don't know what your talking about, and neither does he, so why don't you just get outta here before I get angry?" replied Sonic, his ears going back against his skull.  
  
"Actually, Sonic, I do know of what he's talking about," Tails hesitantly stepped forward. "Wha...? But I thought you had amnesia?" "Not really. But if you knew what had happened, you would have been mad," Tails tried to explain. "I'll talk to you later, then. He turned back to the echidna, who had by now put his blades away, and the chao. "So who are you?" he finally asked, eyeing them over. "I'm Havoc, and this is Kurt!" Havoc chimed in before Kurt could say a word. "We came running when we heard the explosion," explained Kurt in his growl.  
  
"Explosion?" The other two looked confused for a second. "Oh, that was just the sound barrier," said Sonic. Of course Kurt had heard of the famous Sonic the Hedgehog, so there wasn't much more explanation needed. "That would make you Miles Prower?" he asked. "Sure does," Tails piped up, proud to have been recognized. "What were you doing at the GUN base?" "It's a long story. We can explain it on the way." "What way?" asked Kurt. "Knothole. It's lunchtime." The echidna and chao followed hesitantly.  
  
Chapter 6 Changes  
  
News quickly spread about the new arrivals. Kurt suddenly found Havoc and himself at the center of attention. Everyone was asking questions about everything. Soon a squirrel came up to him and introduced herself as Sally Acorn.  
  
"Princess, Sally Acorn?" Kurt asked. "The same," she said, "but don't bow," she added quickly, seeing how he was about to do just that. "Then how may I be of service, Princess?" asked the newcomer. "First, you can call me Sally. Second, I'll have to get back to you about." "What should I do until then, Sally?" he asked. "Find Sonic, he can probably find you somewhere to sleep for tonight. That is, if you plan on staying with us."  
  
He wasn't too sure, or thrilled, about the idea, but this was why he brought Himself and Havoc out this way. "Sure," he said with a smile, "If there is anything at all I can do, let me know." "You can start with taking off those knives and your gun. I don't think you'll be needing those here," she replied. He took off the gun, but left both knives sheathed, not wanting to be without some protection.  
  
He met up with Sonic, wanting to put down his things and explore. Both he and Havoc hated being in places they didn't know. It dawned on Kurt that Sonic had been talking to him. "What?" he asked. "I said, 'what does your chao look like in his large form?' and, 'what is his name?'" "His name is Havoc. I don't know what a large form is."  
  
Sonic stopped walking and turned to the echidna. "Havoc has never had a chaos dive, or emerald, even?" he asked. "A Chaos Emerald is somewhat hard to find, including the shards of the eighth emerald. And I've never given him a chaos drive." "They could be helpful. Especially since Buttnik has himself a new bot. We should find some somewhere," Sonic replied. "I know where we could get some. But I would need to call in a friend." "Who?" Sonic questioned him. "An old friend of mine," was the answer. "He's a bounty hunter, but my best friend. Second, best friend," he saved after Havoc had taken a bite out of his leg, but not too serious.  
  
*** Not too much later, a tall fox stepped up to the designated meeting spot. He was dressed in a black leather jacket, white undershirt, jeans, and boots. He had been toughed through years of hardship. His left arm was a tribute to that, being robotic gave him a look that matched his name.  
  
"Savage!" came a yell from behind him. Turning around, he saw a gray echidna he hadn't seen in too long. "Kurt!" he yelled, then nearly tackled him in a hug. "Your slipping, bro, you should have heard me coming a mile away. Some great hunter," Kurt teased. "Yeah, well, I guess you've gotten better," Savage said. "So what's going on, why'd you bring me out here?"  
  
"I'll need you for a job. Robbery. Were getting something from the GUN base. Several somethings. There's one catch, though," answered Kurt. "And that would be?" "You're going to have to pass up one of your bounties." "Argh. Which?" "Sonic the Hedgehog. But if this works to plan, it will make you more famous than you ever believed, and with that, no more hunting," he added quickly, seeing the fox about to reject the offer. Savage considered it for a while. "What are we stealing?" "Chaos Drives," was the answer, "Enough for a group of chao." "And how will this make us famous?" "Have you ever heard of what chao can do with Chaos Drives, or emeralds?" "We'', yes, but I still don't get it." "We're taking my chao, and one other, plus us and a few others, and taking out that robot that destroyed Mission Viejo City."  
  
"You've got to be kidding." "Do I kid?" "No, and that's what's scaring me. What kind of chao? They must be some pretty strong chao." "Two chaos chao." "Chaos chao are strong, but do you think they will be able to take this robot out? I mean, it destroyed an entire city, BY ITSELF!" "No harm in trying," Kurt said with a smile.  
  
Chapter 7 Night Prowlers  
  
Late afternoon found Kurt and Savage in Knothole, Savage eyeing Sonic, and Sonic doing the same, neither trusting the other. Savage was preparing his gear for their trip, as was Kurt, Sonic, and Tails. Savage had a double- barrel shotgun, plus his arm. Kurt had his pistol, and two knives. Sonic and Tails relied on what had been proven in the past, and all of them had a backpack or duffel bag. Around sunset, they set off, heading toward the military base. They walked for miles, stopping every now and then for a rest.  
  
"So, Savage, how's that deal with the Hunters going?" "Meh. Could be better. Could be worse, too, though." The group traveled in silence, not fining much to say. A few hours to midnight found them a couple miles from their objective.  
  
About a half mile from the base, Kurt turned to the small group behind him. "Alright," he started, "about 100 yards form the base is where they start looking for ground forces. That is what they will see if they find us. Step where I step, walk when I walk, stop when I stop, and watch for my signals. I've got to make one stop before we hit the storehouse. Any questions? No? Let's go then." They hiked until they were about 120 yards from the fences. The gray echidna said over his shoulder, "Don't say a word until we get into the storehouse, unless you absolutely have to." "Aye aye Cap'n," replied Sonic in a semi-Scottish accent.  
  
The group kept low, and moved slowly, agonizingly so, it seemed to Sonic, avoiding the tower searchlights. They moved to one corner of the fence, where they found a hole big enough to crawl through. Tails slipped through easily, and Sonic had a little difficulty. Savage made it through all right, but Kurt barely squeezed through. The four of them moved through to the barracks, where Kurt picked up a duffel bag. 'Strange,' thought his company. Savage had an idea what was in the bag, especially after he didn't see a familiar item with the echidna earlier.  
  
They made their way to the storehouse, making their way to the rear. Kurt and Savage with near perfect military precision, and the other two following behind. Savage let his double-barrel shotgun swing on its strap, and Kurt holstered his pistol. Tails flew up and examined the crates of chaos drives, while the other three got ready, opening their packs and bags. The two-tailed fox took a box and flew down to where the other three were waiting, handing it to Sonic. Kurt took it and opened it carefully. A red glow came from within the box, casting their faces in a strange light. Tails made his way back to the top and grabbed another one, Sonic putting the first into his bag.  
  
"Tails," Kurt whispered. "Yeah, Kurt, what's up?" came the reply. "Can you carry two of these boxes no problem?" "Yeah, sure. Easy." By now, Tails had brought down two more boxes of the chaos drives and had put them in a duffel bag he had. Kurt took the one Tails carried down, and the next one, then carefully stuffed them into his bag. Savage did the same, putting a pair of the cases into his bag. Every member of this certain team had two, except for Kurt, who carried one as well as his other bag.  
  
Kurt reached for the aforementioned bag, and pulled out the M4 he had hidden away. He screwed on a silencer/flash suppressor, put a magazine in the bottom, and pumped a round into the chamber. As he finished assembling his gun, the two freedom fighters gave each other a look of astonishment, while Savage just looked on with a grin. How well he knew his old friend. "Where'd you pull that from?" Sonic asked. Kurt just replied with a small smile, not giving further explanation. Tails made a mental note to ask Kurt what had happened here before the echidna joined up with the freedom fighters. Finally, Kurt pulled out a strap and attached it to the rifle.  
  
"Let's go then," Kurt said. The snuck back to the hole in the fence, weighed down with the drives. They managed to get through, barely, but made much more noise than before. The guards didn't notice, but making their way back to the forest edge, Tails tripped, yelping in pain.  
  
"Take them and run," he ordered Savage. "What about you?" He wasn't about to leave his friend, "I'm staying with you." "A shotgun is going to do nothing this far away. Go now," he commanded. Hesitantly, Savage took off, trailing the other two.  
  
Meanwhile, in the guard tower, the on-station soldier called, "Who's there?" Hearing no answer, he gave a warning-"declare yourself, or you will be fired upon!" Kurt gave a small grin. Must be a recruit. Only the new guys follow protocol that closely. He got as low as he could, hoping his flash suppressor was still working, and that they wouldn't be sending out any flares. He fired three shots, one hitting the guard in the leg, and another hitting the stationary gunner in the chest. Kurt took this opportunity to make his getaway. He prayed to whatever gods there were that the soldier would pull through. There wasn't meant to be any casualties on this mission.  
  
He ran into the forest, nearly colliding with the other three, blended into the shadows as they were.  
  
"Let's go home," said Kurt, and the rest nodded in agreement.  
  
Chapter 8 Don't Tread on Me  
  
Before the group returned to Knothole, Kurt pulled Savage to the side. "Give me your shotgun," he said. "Why?" asked Savage, handing it over to Kurt. "They don't like guns here, and I'm sure they would hate it if they had a bounty hunter with a shotgun. Especially a hunter that is hunting their favorite hero," answered Kurt. "Makes sense," Savage said. Kurt put his M4 and Savage's shotgun into his bag, then the two caught up to the others.  
  
Meanwhile, another group had gone to the Chao Gardens in Sapphire City, and had picked up Chalcon, plus the other Freedom Fighter chao. When they got back there was a big commotion, ending is Velocity and Pilot tackling their owners.  
  
"You should get yourself a chao," came a voice from behind Savage. He turned around to see Kurt holding Havoc. "There's no way I could take care of one," replied Savage. "I raised him on a Marine base, I'm sure you could raise one in the jungle." "I'll think about it," said Savage, without much conviction in his voice.  
  
Soon the four thieves and a few of the other Freedom Fighters were sitting around a fire, with the chao and the Chaos Drives with them. The Knothole villagers passed out a chaos drive to the two chaos chao, since they were the key to fighting this new mecha Robotnik had. The light chaos chao, Chalcon, was handed a green drive. Without much trouble, he opened it and swallowed the contents.  
  
The chao stretched upwards and outwards, the changes coming to a stop shortly after. Where the chao had once stood was a perfect likeness of Chaos1. Chalcon reveled in his new power, the other chao's eyes growing wide. Havoc was passed a red drive, matching his color. With not much more difficulty than Chalcon, and looked to Kurt. He gave his chao a small nod, the chao needing the support. He hesitantly drank it. The change started instantly, just like Chalcon's. Havoc looked like Chaos1 also, only red with dark blue eyes. Chalcon stretched out his arm and flicked Havoc on the forehead. Or tried to. Havoc melted into a pool of blood-red fluid, then made his way by Kurt. He re-formed sitting on the log.  
  
"This is so cool," exclaimed Havoc. "How long do those drives last?" asked Kurt. "When they're just relaxed, indefinitely, but if they are fighting something, it changes. Sometimes it's a few hours, other times it's a few minutes. Now if we had the Chaos Emeralds, they could stay like this, or go bigger, indefinitely."  
  
"Kurt," Tails called. "Yes?" "Why are you here? How did you know how to get around that base so well and where did you get that gun?" came a flurry of questions. Kurt got up and walked off into the darkness. The fox kit was afraid he had upset the echidna, but soon, Kurt came back, holding his rifle. He took out the magazine and emptied the chamber, a round flying out of the barrel. With cat-like reflexes, Kurt snatched it out of the air. He handed the rifle to Tails, "be very, very, careful. I've never told anyone this, not even Savage," he said, sitting back down.  
  
"But considering what he and I are going up against soon, it doesn't really matter anymore." He started to tell his story, from the beginning, when his parents had been killed, through his unstopping need for vengeance, and then Jonny, his best friend. He finished an hour and a half later, when Shadow had destroyed the GUN zeppelin, then to the boar, then finding Sonic. The rest they knew.  
  
Tails, content with Kurt's story, then asked about Savage, wanting to know about his new friends history. After trying to dissuade the smaller fox, and failing, Savage said, "Kurt makes a really good point. Knowing what we're going to be fighting soon, I don't see too much harm in telling," though he was still hesitant. He started off slowly, cautiously. His story was different, but had similarities.  
  
When he was eight, Robotnik had been dealing with his parents, who owned an oil factory. One day, though, Robotnik came with a different idea then getting oil. He had robotized Savage, and had forced him to kill his own parents. Due to the weakness of the robotization process, Savage soon regained his freewill, running from Robotnik and stealing one of his jets, the HellFox, which Savage still has, and uses. Savage had de-robotized his body, but left his arm robotic. He joined a group of bounty hunters, but one of them was after him, now. He later joined a group from Thaibodia, the Hunters, helping them fight their own war. He had received a call from Kurt, and now here he was. By this time, both chao had shrunk to their original size.  
  
Suddenly the bush behind Savage shook, and a voice came from inside. "Lovely story, mate, but here's where it ends," stated Nack the Weasel, jumping from the bushes, both hands outstretched, and a look in his eyes that told everyone that he was insane. Kurt pulled out both knives he carried, tossing the metal one to Savage, and yelled, "Get out of here!" to the rest of the group. Savage caught the blade, spinning it so it fit right in his hand. Nack was still charging the fox, uncaring that he would be facing two seasoned fighters. His face met solidly with Savage's metal hand, making a sickening crunch. The villagers cleared out, leaving the three combatants.  
  
Soon the freedom fighters heard a scream, and the echidna and fox stepped through the bushes, blood staining the blades they carried, plus some that had gotten on them. Tails paled. "Did you..." he trailed off. "No, we didn't kill him if that's what you were going to ask. We just wounded him. Hopefully he will crawl off and leave us alone now," answered Savage. "Heh heh, how long has he been chasing you?" asked Kurt. "Good point," replied the fox. Tails was till holding Kurt's rifle. His hand brushed against something on the butt, the fox looking to inspect it. Inscribed on the weapon were the words "Don't Tread On Me."  
  
Chapter 9  
  
'Another day, another con,' thought Shadow. 'Hopefully this one will work better.' He was seated at a computer terminal, working furiously. His hands flew across the keyboard, his mind set on his work. He was supposedly building on a new weapons program for Robotnik's newest toy. He typed one final line into the encryption file, and entered it onto the Robotropolis computer network. Instantly all the computers in the control room froze, not a single one working. Running programs were closed, unsaved information was lost, mice and keyboards were unresponsive. 'I love viruses,' thought the hedgehog with a smile, 'and with that encryption code in, it will take days to get everything working right again.'  
  
Unbeknownst to the hedgehog, however, Blitzkrieg had been monitoring the network, wanting to know what its new program would consist of. Being plugged into the network, it too had been frozen. 'Time to act,' thought Shadow, as he ran up to the control center, and stormed in. "Robotnik!" he roared. "How am I supposed to write this program if your stupid network has viruses in it? I just lost everything. I'm going to have to re-do it all!" he yelled.  
  
Meanwhile, Robotnik was furiously working on one of the main computers, trying to get the mouse and keyboard working for now. Having no luck, he turned to the hedgehog. "I have every single anti-virus known to human and Mobian kind. This was put onto the network by an insider. You know what this means, don't you Shadow?" Shadow gulped, hoping Robotnik missed it. "No," he said. "Fool!" screamed the doctor. "The Freedom Fighters have gotten to our computers and uploaded a virus. Stupid hedgehog. Get out and check on Blitzkrieg." 'For an evil genius, your awfully stupid,' thought the hedgehog, 'or I should be an actor. I'll have to look into that later,' he thought with a smile. He turned to check on the robot, hearing, "Wipe that smile off your face," coming from behind him.  
  
Down in the robots quarters, Shadow found the bot deactivated, with his Ethernet cable plugged into a port in the wall. 'This worked better than I could have hoped,' thought Shadow. 'Not only are the computers down, that thing won't be around for a few days.' He walked out, and hit his foot against a table leg. He gasped and shut his eyes against the pain; his bullet wound still healing from where that gray echidna had shot him. He ignored it and went to his quarters to think about his next move against Robotnik.  
  
*** Kurt found Havoc and Savage sitting against a tree near the edge of the village. Savage was teaching Havoc a new song, one of Savage's favorites.  
  
"What I've felt  
  
What I've known  
  
Never shined through in what I've shown  
  
Never free  
  
Never me  
  
So I dub thee unforgiven"  
  
"Is that still your theme song?" Kurt joked. "You know it," Savage replied. "I got huge news. I got a contact inside Robotropolis. And you'll never believe who," beamed Savage. "No kidding. Who?" asked Kurt. "Shadow the Hedgehog. He's been working as a double for awhile, and he made contact this morning." "Shadow the hedgehog..." Kurt mused. "Where have I heard that before?" he wondered aloud. "Anyway, he gave us some Intel about where this bot is going for next. He also sent some tech data." "Oh yea? Like what?" asked the echidna.  
  
"You won't believe what we're going up against. This thing has twin cut down and modified M60 machineguns in its arms, and a rocket launcher in its chest. It can fly in subsonic speeds. Seems like no big deal for the HellFox, but something that small can turn on a dime, and I don't want to be on the wrong end of those guns." "Yeah," Kurt thought a moment, then asked "where is he going, and when." "That's both good and bad news. He's leaving in two days. He's going to Station Square." Kurt thought about how close the robot was. There was now way that thing was destroying his former home, even if it was former.  
  
"Blitzkrieg." "Huh?" puzzled Kurt. "That's the name. Blitzkrieg. For fast, incredible destruction."  
  
"We should get to work, then," Kurt told the two. "We should borrow Velocity from Sonic. He's a good strategist, from what I hear." "Sure. I'll meet you in your cabin," Savage commented as the trio split ways. 


End file.
